Who is Dirty Hairy?

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Who's Hairy?

Spawned in Wash., D.C., Dirty Hairy is the brainchild and alter ego of Karen Boehm (pronounced Bome), Hairy's primary (and only) groomer. As an embassy brat in her youth, Karen grew up moving around overseas a good part of her life, living in Japan, Germany, Luxembourg, Turkey, Thailand and Kathmandu, Nepal, to name a few places, then in Upstate New York, Virginia, Texas, San Francisco and North Carolina, ultimately settling in New York City for twenty years before moving to Waterford, CT. All this moving created the foundation of a restless heart. Love them wheels!

Karen went to college/s - a lot. None of her vast education, however, resulted in work as CEO of Chase Bank or US Secretary of State. Over the years, Karen has worked as a cook, an executive assistant, a dating consultant (creepeeeeey..), a telemarketer, a records clerk at a police department, a dog walker, a quiltmaker, an office manager, a door-to-door encyclopedia saleswoman, a furniture reupholsterer, a waitress at Pizza Hut, a tour guide, a jeweler, a shipping clerk, a diamond grader (brief, but interesting gig), a proofreader, a transcriber, a graphic designer, a cab dispatcher, a carpetbag maker, a drivers ed instructor, a call taker at a suicide hotline (that was just for fun), a famous war correspondent, and the president of a small but powerful third world country. Oh yeah, and the queen of England. Can't forget that!

For the most part (except for the dog walking and the queen of England gig) each of Karen's jobs have had one common bond. She hated all of them. Mainly the part about having to work for other people, on their schedules, and for their profit.

A couple of years ago Karen realized there were two things in her life that have been consistent, never varying in any way. One is an extreme dislike of working for other people's companies ("Mr. Tudball's office - how may I help you?") and the other is a lifelong, passionate love of animals. Many of her most cherished memories concern the numerous pets she's had from toddlerhood up. Bobo the Dachshund, Marzipan the Dachshund, Bridgette the Irish Terrier, Mott the cat (we miss you so, little guy) , Lemon the cat, Chaz the St. Bernard, Chowder and Dweezil the cats. And a large host of others.

When Karen had the good fortune of acquiring a modest windfall, she decided enough is enough - time to take the leap and start her own business. What kind of business was obvious. Anything involving animals.

Having groomed her own and all her friends pets for many years, the decision to become a professional groomer made sense, so she enrolled as a student at the Connecticut School of Dog Grooming in North Haven, CT. There she had the great benefit of being trained by Jennie Aurora, a highly gifted and accomplished groomer, and owner/director of the school. Under Jennie's expert tutelage Karen learned how to execute beautiful, breed-specific scissor cuts, humane nail clipping, safe bathing technique and proper blade and snap-on comb usage, as well as learning how to address common animal behavioral issues. Jennie has been training groomers for more than thirteen years, prior to which she was the director of the the New York School of Dog Grooming in Manhattan. She is personally responsible for launching the careers of hundreds of motivated and talented groomers, many of whom share Karen's history of a lifetime of unfulfilling jobs and creative frustration. Jennie has especially championed the cause of women, encouraging and assisting them in their effort to become self-sufficient professionals who take pride in their work and love what they do. In my book, Jennie is worthy of a Woman of the Year award, every year. Love you, Jennie! Cheers!

As well as her training and state certification in grooming, Karen/Dirty Hairy is fully licensed by the State of Connecticut and the Connecticut Department of Agriculture/Animal Control, who gave Hairy's van two thumbs up for sanitation, equipment and tools, and adherence to all animal services codes. Karen is also certified in animal CPR and emergency/first aid procedures.

Jennie Aurora and two of her best friends

Karen and the dog she adopted in Nepal. Getting it home on the plane was a nightmare. The first trip to the vet in the Mini-Cooper cleared up our misconceptions about Raji's true identity.